Chapter 42: Emperor Moore, Section 6

The magnificent dining table instantly turned into countless flying shards, plunging the hall into chaos. Dozens of plates, like invitations to death, lay scattered at odd angles, blocking almost all space. Each plate was spun by Black Hair with incredible force. The sound of them tearing through the air was enough to make anyone shudder. For a moment, time seemed to stand still in the entire room. Expressions of surprise, confusion, shock, and fear appeared on people’s faces one after another.

Black Hair was confident in his skills. Though the attack came suddenly, he was fundamentally different from everyone else present—because he had never relaxed his vigilance from the start. The brutal manner of attack was also a cover. Ever since he realized that the best assassins were also the most skilled disguisers, Black Hair had become suspicious of that plain-looking gunnery champion. Thus, at this moment, he was the calmest person in the room.

Using momentum, he leaped forward. In an instant, Black Hair moved like a pouncing cheetah, ignoring the mere ten meters separating him from his opponent. While still in mid-air, he swung his right leg like an iron whip, the screech of air being torn apart piercing everyone’s eardrums. In a flash, it seemed as though everyone could already see the gunnery champion being flung aside.

Was this really the limit of human strength? The crowd stared in stunned silence at the frozen scene, their thoughts frozen as well. At this moment, time held no meaning—only death loomed ahead.

But they forgot one thing: if an assassin cannot maintain mental stability even when attacking, then he has no right to be an assassin. And in fact, the man chosen by Duke Ziyan was a true assassin.

Although Black Hair’s attack was sudden, he wasn’t overly surprised—he didn’t even frown. His left hand, which had been by the dwarf’s side, suddenly flipped like lightning, drawing the dwarf’s firearm from his waist. At the same time, he reached out with his right hand and lifted the dwarf whole, using him as a shield to block Black Hair’s attack!

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Cold gunshots fired bright flames. Just as Black Hair’s attack was about to land, the gunnery champion also unleashed a deadly strike. Three gunpowder-driven projectiles were fired in a triangular pattern at the nearby Emperor of the Empire.

It wasn’t until then that the unfortunate dwarf let out a pitiful scream.

“Oh no…”

Upon hearing this sound, Black Hair’s heart sank instantly. Trouble. This dwarf surely wasn’t an accomplice of the assassin. But the attack had already been launched; it wasn’t that simple to retract it. Not to mention the whipping kick he was delivering at that moment—just the discs sent flying in advance would likely tear the dwarf to shreds in an instant, like blades. Moreover, the assassin had placed the dwarf between the two of them, blocking Black Hair’s attack and ruining all his plans in one go.

It sounded complicated, but it actually happened in just an instant. By the time the gunshot rang out, Black Hair no longer hesitated. He suddenly stretched out his left hand and, despite the high-speed rotation, accurately pressed it onto the dwarf’s head. With a press and a twist, he used the force to change his posture, flipping completely sideways in midair while spinning like a tornado. His legs swept through every inch of space within several meters like a storm. With a crisp sound, he managed to shred the incoming discs to pieces!!

But as a result, Black Hair no longer had the ability to save the Emperor of Moore. The gunshot had already been fired. Even though it was an ancient weapon powered by gunpowder, its firing speed was far beyond Black Hair’s ability to keep up. Besides, his distance from the emperor was even greater than that from the assassin.

Could it be… the death of the Emperor of the Empire was already inevitable?

Black Hair’s thoughts ceased, leaving his mind completely blank for a moment.

“Puff puff puff…” Three muffled sounds. The entire restaurant suddenly fell silent.

Everything that had happened was so sudden that people still hadn’t reacted. Everyone stared blankly at the three small glowing spheres that suddenly appeared on the emperor’s chest, unable to speak. After a brief silence, an angry roar broke the deathly quiet.

“Your Majesty!!!” The gladiator suddenly stood up, his head still covered in table fragments, but he paid no attention to them. His massive body, like a small mountain, rushed wildly at the assassin right in front of him.

“You dare threaten Your Majesty! I’ll kill you!!”

“Stop!!”

Just as the gladiator’s hand was about to reach the assassin’s neck, a lazy growl sounded behind him. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the Emperor of the Empire slowly stood up from his seat, his gentle smile still on his face—none of the signs of injury at all.

Seeing the emperor’s reaction, everyone was confused. The assassin’s shot had clearly hit him right in front of everyone. Could it be that the emperor wasn’t hurt at all? What… what was going on here?

No one could get an explanation. In fact, the emperor had no desire to explain anything to anyone. After stopping the gladiators, he first glanced carefully at the black-haired man and nodded before lazily speaking again.
“Good timing. If you weren’t my target, I would have cheered for you. I haven’t seen such precise assassination attempts in a long time.”
“Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty,” the gunnery champion replied, his facial muscles twitching slightly, though his voice remained steady.
“You must be wondering why your attack couldn’t harm me. I suppose that guy, Zi Yan, didn’t tell you, did he?” The emperor continued speaking as if unbothered.
“I don’t know Duke Zi Yan. But I am indeed curious about why my attack didn’t harm you,” the assassin replied, firmly denying the emperor’s casual probe, showing great vigilance and mental strength.
Yet upon hearing this, the emperor laughed—joyfully, as if watching the funniest play, completely unconcerned about how others viewed him. Only after he had laughed enough did he bend over and wave a finger.
“No, no, no. You’re too nervous, young man. You might think I was testing you just now, but that wasn’t the case. Have you never thought about it? If I hadn’t been prepared for your attack, how could I still be sitting here unharmed? Also, the firearms on that weapons master were allowed on this ship due to an imperial exception. But without my permission, how could he have boarded at all?”
Shrugging innocently, the emperor said, “Well, well. I won’t beat around the bush. I’ll just remind you of one thing—look at my clothes. Don’t you remember anything?”
His voice was soft, yet it immediately piqued the curiosity of everyone present, even the black-haired man couldn’t help but look. But no matter how they looked, there was nothing particularly striking about the emperor’s magnificent robes—just a bit luxurious, nothing special.
Yet the assassin’s expression changed. His lips moved slightly, and after some effort, he managed to utter a name.
“The Embrace of Mother Tia?”
“Smart!!” The emperor clapped his hands happily. “Now you should understand why your attack couldn’t harm me, right?”
Everyone’s expression changed—not just the assassin’s.
“The Embrace of Mother Tia.” This name might not be well-known outside the empire, but within the Moor Empire, it was like thunder!!

For the deities of the Moor Empire, namely the great Mother Goddess Tia, truly exist!! And this magnificent robe is said to have been crafted by her own hands. It is a testament to the greatness of the deities. It is said that wearing this robe equips one with an invisible shield similar to that of a warship, blocking any malicious actions against the wearer. Though its protective power is not as strong as that of a true shield, it is effective against any attack—as long as the attack does not exceed a certain limit, the wearer will remain safe!

How could ordinary people possibly reach the works of the gods? For those present, what had just happened was like witnessing the existence of a god with their own eyes. No wonder even that killer with exceptional composure changed his expression.

Seeing the expressions of the people around him, the Emperor of the Empire seemed even more proud, his smile growing wider, while his gaze at the killer grew increasingly mocking.

“I know the Master of Weapons is not your accomplice. So stop holding him. You’re also a Moor—would you want to cause further harm to the Empire after failing? Go, exit through the door behind you. Someone will arrange your fate outside. Go—power struggles are not for little people like you. No matter what happens, you won’t get what you want.”

“Is that really true?” The killer tried to stay calm, but his trembling lips betrayed him. Now everyone could see that he had no future left. Leaving that room meant only death awaited him.

“What do you say? My champion of ship cannons—do you still have other plans? In the presence of the works of Mother Goddess Tia?”

Dead silence. For a moment, it seemed the air in the room had frozen. The killer hesitated for a while before finally nodding. He released the dwarf champion, who slowly dropped to the ground. Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But at that very moment, a warning sign arose in the black-haired man’s mind.

“Be careful!!”

“It’s too late. Even Mother Goddess Tia’s embrace cannot stop the Thunder God’s wrath. A killer’s duty is to complete his mission. Your Majesty, die!!”

In the blink of an eye, the killer’s left hand moved again. This time, instead of drawing a weapon from the dwarf beside him, he plunged a small dagger deep into the chest of the dwarf champion. At the same time, he grabbed the dwarf’s body and hurled it violently at the Emperor of the Empire…

“Damn it! How dare you use such tactics!!” At that moment, even the emperor changed his expression!!